I love baseball. I love the strategy employed by managers to attempt to control every facet of the game. I love it when things work out in their favor thinking that somehow their decision to pitch their ace right hander against the pinch hitter that hits .106 against righties works out in their favor. Maybe I just like having the odds in my favor.

Leland Bruce

I recall as an aspiring Little League all-star my father taking me out to the school yard daily to throw painted hard balls at me and command that I scream the color of the paint as I swung at his mighty fastball. Try having a dad that is 6’6” and throws a fastball at 80 mph at you when you are still finger painting in 4th period and have feelings of exhilaration for 6th period Spelling Bee’s. Talk about strategy! My dad was just putting the numbers in his favor to ensure that his son could hit a fastball. Excellent execution of a flawless strategy except for the night sweats that I have had for the past 40 years as I see orange, red and blue colored Rawlings hardballs flying past my head while my feet are cemented into the batter’s box!

Yes, I love baseball because one of the key concepts in baseball is to keep your eye on the ball. This artful concept works in politics as well, but since campaign managers wish to employ strategy to control the outcome of the game, oftentimes we are led to take our eye off of the ball. President Obama and his legion of campaign managers, media hacks and public puppet followers are doing all within their power to divert our eyes from the ball and maintain our focus on the pretty new uniforms, the front office, the visiting team and most of all ‘free cap’ night. Free caps for everyone! Hey, that guy has 2 caps! Give me one of yours! Pay your Fair Share! But I bought this one with my own money yells the capitalist fan. Your money is my money comes the reply.

I realize that I am 5,500 miles from home plate, but I cannot believe what I read on print media and what I hear on news outlets. Talk about taking your eye off the ball. Bain Capital? Hey Axelrod, get that one out on our news outlets and see if it sticks. Sorry Barry but Bill Clinton just praised the private equity industry! If that’s his ploy for Hillary 2016 I’ll have his head he screams from Honeywell. OK, retraction, Bill just said you will win by a landslide…. Ann Romney’s blouse? Governor Romney’s record as Governor? The Republican war on women? Dog vacations? 50 year old high school pranks? Willard Romney’s birth certificate? Donald Trump visits? Pay your fair share? Romney doesn’t relate to the middle class? I have eaten cotton candy at the ballpark before but the hyperbole spewing forth from these minions has more air and artificial syrup in it than you could fit into the San Onofre nuclear power plant. Don’t say nuclear Jay Carney, the Left hates that word. I cannot wait for the religious barbs, the man is too handsome, he was a draft dodger, his boys served “Mormon” missions, Ann doesn’t work (Oops, already floated that one and got slammed…… “I know three Hilary Rosen’s; to which do you refer” says Jay Carney… Seriously Mr. President, you didn’t see that question coming?). Mark my words, these curve balls will be forthcoming and will not strike home. Unfortunately for Mr. Obama, the Romney camp and most Americans have their eye on the ball. And I don’t really care what color that Rawlings is painted or how fast it is hurling toward home plate. The message on the ball is simple:

The Economy.

I have to hand it to the Obama administration. They play smart. When your middle relief pitching breaks down you have got to go to your closer and put strategy back in your favor. For those of you who don’t know, this administration only has one closer. It’s called the Bureau of Labor Statistics (“BLS”) and this supposed non-partisan group holds in large part the future of Sir Debt Accumulator in their hands. You see it’s this group that produces the unemployment figures every month as we all anxiously hold our breath to see what falsified number they will actually produce. Unfortunately for Team Obama, the BLS has been more like Mitch Williams of the 90’s as a closer than Mariano Rivera of the 00’s. And much like Rivera’s torn ACL which will impact the Yankees run for the pennant this year, the BLS could become Obama’s Achilles Heel before November. Not that he hasn’t tried to pay off the umpires, hide sandpaper in his mitt (wow what a play on words) or pray for a rain out because he has. Well, maybe not the pray part because he usually golfs on Sundays. Sorry I digress. But yes it’s true, the BLS has been warming up in the bull pen for the past several months and you can bank on the idea that Team Obama will give them the ball at the end of the game. It’s really the only way that they have any chance to win the game. Let me explain…. (more…)